There's Something in the Water
by BaOgden
Summary: Torchwood find something weird going on involving a new drink being sold around Britain. I DO NOT OWN TORCHWOOD.
1. Chapter 1

It was unusually lovely weather for Cardiff, and everyone was in a good mood. People walking in the streets, chatting to people they wouldn't normally talk to. People were sunbathing in their gardens, people having parties and drinking at 1pm in the afternoon. However, Jack, Ianto, Tosh, Gwen and Owen were stuck in the Hub, working. No one was too happy about it, either.

'Pina colada?' Ianto asked the team as he walked past.

'You've honestly made pina coladas for everyone?' Owen asked skeptically.

'Well.. no. But that would lighten the mood in here, wouldn't it?' Ianto replied, looking round the Hub at everyone's spiritless faces.

'I'd be up for it if I could drink', Owen announced.

'Why don't you?' Tosh asked Ianto, who was surprised she was listening, as her face read no indication of attentiveness whatsoever.

'I don't think Jack would be too happy if he came out of his office to find us all pissed.'

'Good point', Tosh replied.

'Although I could pop down to the shops and pick up some lemonade and little umbrellas', Ianto thought aloud.

'Class at its best', Owen commented, smirking.

'I like the idea', Tosh smiled. 'What do you think, Gwen?'

'Eh?' Gwen was nodding off at her desk.

'Ianto was thinking about buying some lemonade and little umbrellas from the shop, what do you think?' Owen asked Gwen, holding in laughter.

Owen eventually burst out with laughter when he saw that Gwen's reaction, too, was laughter.

When they'd both calmed down, Gwen eventually admitted 'actually that's not a bad idea. It would lighten the mood up, at least.'

Ianto returned 15 minutes later with a large bottle of lemonade and a small tub of mini-umbrellas.

He then brought 2 glasses out, one with a green umbrella and one with a pink.

'Gwen', Ianto said as he handed her the one with the green umbrella.

'Thank_you_', Gwen said excitedly. Ianto then handed the second glass to Tosh.

'Thanks, Ianto. Was the shop busy?' she asked him.

'Actually, it was. It was full of people buying this new drink.. Everyone seems obsessed with it. It's called.. err.. Limezop', Ianto told them.

'That's weird; I saw that on the news last night. It's this new huge thing, sold only in the UK. They've already been sold to over a million people... People can't get enough of it', Gwen said, sounding suspicious.

'Obviously people love it', Tosh remarked.

'I'd love to know what's in it, just so I can see what all the hype is about. There must be some special ingredient that makes you keep wanting more', Ianto wondered.

'I think it's a drug mixed with sugar. When I was in the Police Force, people were selling these cookies that made people keep coming back for more.. It turned out they had drugs in them..' Gwen explained.

'We should buy a copy and find out exactly what is in the drink', Tosh said.

'It's probably just a normal drink, sugar makes everyone crazy..' Owen dismissed Gwen and Tosh's ramblings.

'Yeah maybe. But what if it isn't? I want to find out', Gwen said, heading for the doors.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun was shining on Gwen's face as she walked through the city of Cardiff to the nearest Corner shop. The bell rang as she walked through the door.

'Good morning', the slightly chubby man from behind the counter greeted her as she entered. Gwen smiled in return. _Coke, Pepsi.._ she was looking through all the fizzy and energy drinks until she found what she was looking for. _Limezop_, she picked it up and took it to the counter. The shop was empty, besides her and the man serving her.

'Ah, these have been very popular the past few days..' the man commented as he scanned it through the till.

'Really? May I ask when you received the first stock of these?' Gwen asked him, sounding slightly professional. It was a long time since she'd last felt like a Police Officer.

'Oh, about 3 days ago, now', the man replied. Gwen smiled at him in thanks as he handed her the peculiar drink.

As she walked back to the Hub she looked at her surroundings, so many people sat enjoying the sun, people on park benches.. with the drink. People walking in and out of shops.. sipping the drink.. It was like a pandemonium, but she was the only one that had seemed to notice. _This is weird.._ she thought to herself as she returned to the Hub.

'You got it, then?' Owen called out to her as she walked back through the doors.

'Yep', she slammed the bottle on Owen's desk in success. Ianto and Tosh crowded round his desk.

'It's a weird colour..' Tosh commented. The liquid was an off green colour, for something so successful, it didn't look all that appealing..

The four of them read the back of the label on the 250ml bottle.

'It all seems normal to me..' Tosh commented.

'Of course it does, they're not going to have "may contain drugs" on the bottle, are they?' Gwen told her, taking the bottle over to their tech equipment.


	3. Chapter 3

The four of them worked on separating the ingredients for over an hour. So far everything had seemed normal. Lime, sugar, water..

'It seems pretty normal to me, Gwen,' Ianto sighed.

'No', Gwen replied, frustrated. 'There must be something else!' _Maybe if I tried some.. _Gwen thought to herself. She picked up the bottle and took a small sip.

'Gwen, what the hell are you doing?' Owen said, snatching the bottle away from her before she could try any more. 'That stuff could kill you!'

'Calm down.. I was only seeing if I could guess what other ingredients there are by tasting it. And anyway, no one else had died from drinking it..' she replied.

'Well, what do you think?' Tosh asked, expectantly.

'It's lush', Gwen replied. Owen and Ianto looked slightly disturbed.

'Oh, hang on!' Owen said, rushing over to some of the alien tech and rummaging through it. He then returned to them with a small object that looked slightly like a thermometer. 'This will let us know if there _is_ anything dodgy in the drink.' He placed the object into the bottle filled with the odd coloured liquid, and took it back out 10 seconds later. It then began beeping. 'In a couple of minutes it will come up on the screen which ingredient is the dodgy one', Owen said, smiling, sounding slightly proud of himself.

'That's a great little gizmo', Tosh admired. Owen smiled, a slight egotistic look about him.

They waited, and two minutes later one word that they really weren't expecting came on the screen. _Poison. _

'_Poison_! They put poison in the drink! Who would do that?' Gwen exclaimed, sounding distraught.

'Not to mention the fact that over half the population if not all of it has had some of this "drink"', Ianto added.

'Look, calm down. It all depends on what type of poison it is. Some of it, you'd have to have had loads of the drink to be in any real danger of it.. I'll run a few tests on it. You try and find out more about the drink and who's selling it', Tosh told them all.

Owen and Ianto nodded. 'What I'd like to know is why it's so popular', Ianto said.

'Well, that's obvious. It's the sugar that's keeping people wanting more. Basically, normally when you eat a food that has a high "glycemic index value", a lot of sugar is entering your blood stream really quickly and you start to feel a sugar high. You brain notices and your body starts releasing insulin to lower the sugar level in your bloodstream storing it for energy. Then it lowers the level low enough to cause you to experience a sugar "crash", making you sluggish and lethargic. This makes your brain tell you that you want more sugary foods. This cycle perpetuates over and over until you stop eating the sugar. However, with _this _ingredient, you don't get the sugar crash, you stay on a constant high. That's why people are so desperate to have it. They have so much energy. And that's bad for you in itself, let alone the fact that they've all been poisoned', Owen explained. Gwen just looked at him. She couldn't help but love it when he got all 'doctor-y'. 'When did you work that one out?' she asked him in awe.

'Just now. I am a qualified Doctor, you know, Gwen' Owen replied, winking at her. Her cheeks burned red.

'Stop flirting, Owen. We need to tell Jack about this', Ianto stated, walking towards his office.

'So, there's a chance that the majority of the UK are going to die from this "drink"'? Gwen asked Owen.

'I don't know', he replied, walking over to Tosh to see if she'd made any progress.

'The amount of poison in these drinks and the effect of the poison means that 10 bottles, which is equal to 2.5 litres, is fatal', Tosh replied with a sigh. 'At the rate everyone's going, it doesn't look very good..'

Jack and Ianto came out of Jack's office. 'Looks like John was right', Jack announced. 'Thousands of lives or more are in danger. Tosh, how many do they need to have had before they die?'

'10 bottles', she replied morbidly. Jack just nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

The clock was getting on for 4 o'clock and Torchwood was planning on how to save thousands of lives.

'Right, Toshiko, we really need your computer expertise here at the Hub. Gwen and Owen, I need you to find out as much information as possible about who is selling this stuff and where it's coming from. Me and Ianto will do the same, but first we're going to check out the hospitals to see if the effects of the poison are beginning to show. Whatever you find out, report back to Toshiko. She'll be researching everything you find out, in detail. I'll see you soon', Jack announced, grabbing his coat as him and Ianto left the Hub. Gwen and Owen followed and the two groups went in different directions.

'First things first, I'm going to ring Rhys', Gwen said as they were walking to the nearest supermarket.

'Right, because Torchwood can't get a job done without his help', Owen said sarcastically.

Gwen glared at him. 'No, I want to know if he knows anything about it.' Gwen stopped and waited for Rhys to pick up, but there was no answer. 'Bollocks', she said. She tried again.

'Gwen, he's obviously busy. If he knew anything he'd have told you by now. Now come on, we've got a job to do', Owen told her as be began walking again.

'I'll be right back', Gwen said running off.

'Gwen, where are you going?!' Owen shouted, running after her. He followed her and they reached her home. 'Wow, still got the Christmas decorations up?' Owen said when they'd entered. Gwen ignored him, and went to the fridge.

'Shit. Shit', Gwen was saying.

'What?' Owen said, then became quiet as he realised what was in there. Four bottles of Limzop. 'I'm sorry, Gwen.'


	5. Chapter 5

'No. There's a chance he hasn't had any yet', Gwen uttered, lying to herself. She tried to ring Rhys again.

He answered this time. 'Gwen? What's wrong? I thought I heard my phone ring a few times' he said cheerfully.

'Rhys, listen, those energy drinks in the fridge. How many have you had?' Gwen asked him hurriedly.

'Uhh.. I dunno babe. I've been drinking them every day for the past few days. They really help keep me focussed in work.' Gwen's eyes filled with tears.

'_Don't_ drink any more', Gwen instructed him.

'Why not? What's going on, Gwen?' Rhys sounded concerned now. A tear rolled down Gwen's cheek, and Owen put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

'These drinks that everyone's been so obsessed with recently.. they're poisoned. We're all trying to figure out who's done it but they're dangerous. Rhys, how many have you had?' Gwen's voice was beginning to shake, her eyes blurry with tears.

The line went quiet for a long moment. Then Rhys finally said 'about 12.' Rhys' voice too was beginning to sound uneasy. Gwen fell to her knees, her phone clutched to her chest. Owen didn't know what to do, so he crouched beside her, his hand still on her arm.

'I'm sorry, Gwen', was all he could manage to come up with. Not very comforting, he knew, but he was lost for words. He hated to see her like this.

Gwen started to pull herself together. 'We have to find a-a cure or something. Some sort of antidote. We're bloody Torchwood, aren't we? We must be able to make some sort of antidote', she was almost pleading, thinking up ways to save Rhys from death. Owen shook his head, trying to think of something. Anything. Gwen then put the phone back to her ear, gasping to try and utter what she was trying to say. 'We _will_ find something, sweetheart, okay? You'll be fine, Rhys', Gwen closed her eyes, hanging up the phone. She then stood up slowly, composing herself, and began to leave the flat.

'Gwen, where are you going?' Owen asked, his voice, too, sounding uneasy. Seeing her like this was painful.

'I'm going to find an antidote.' She then spoke into her headset. 'Jack, it's me. Forget looking for who's selling this crap, what we should be doing is finding an antidote for the people that have taken it.'

'Gwen', Jack replied, 'too many people have taken it. How long do you think it'll take us to make an antidote for a million people? What we need is to warn everyone that it isn't safe, and to not drink anymore. Toshiko thinks she's found our guy, anyway. Ianto and I are going to sort him out. What I need you and Owen to do is find a way to inform as many people as you can that the drink is dangerous. The hospitals are beginning to fill up with people who have been poisoned from this drink. I'll talk to you later.'

Gwen groaned in anger. 'Come on', she muttered to Owen as she ran over to a park bench, standing on it. 'I need a microphone or something..'

Owen noticed a puppet show going on a few yards away, with a microphone attached enabling all the children to hear it.

'Cheers, mate' Owen said quickly, taking the microphone away and running back to Gwen, handing it to her.

'Thanks', she replied, then holding the microphone close to her mouth. 'Everyone, can I have your attention, please? This new drink, Limzop, that you are all drinking.. It's poisoned. It's not safe for you to be drinking. I suggest you throw as many bottles away as you can, and warn your friends and family, before it's too late..' she announced to a huge crowd of people. Everyone looked panicked, looking at the drink and throwing it away into the nearest bin. 'Right, there's a few hundred people warned. Now another, what, million?' Gwen muttered to Owen, as they walked towards the nearest shop. Just as they were getting closer to the shop, Gwen noticed a news reporter, interviewing some locals about the heat wave and this 'new drink.'

'Owen, look, over there. That's the news reporter. If we get on the news..' Gwen turned to look at him but he was already gone. He had taken the microphone from the woman and was talking into the camera. She quickly followed him.

'-so throw your bottles of Limzop away. They're _poisoned. _Whatever you do, don't drink any more, it could be fatal. Believe me, I'm a Doctor, I know.'

Gwen stood back, almost managing a smile at Owen. Then she remembered Rhys. 'Tosh?' Gwen spoke into her headset. 'I need you to do something for me.'

'What is it, Gwen?' she replied.

'I need you to start working on an antidote for the poison', Gwen started.

'But Gwen, Jack said, there's too many people. We won't be able to come up with an antidote in time..'

'Tosh, listen to me. Rhys has taken some. Rhys..' talking about it had set her off again. She took a deep breath, 'Rhys told me he's had at least 12 bottles.. he _dying, _Tosh. He can't die..' Gwen began sobbing into the headset.

'Gwen, I'm so sorry. Look, I'll try as hard as I can', Tosh replied.

'Thankyou', Gwen replied.


	6. Chapter 6

'What now?' Owen asked Gwen, who seemed to be in her own little world.

'...We go back to the Hub' Gwen replied. 'There's nothing else we can do here.. and Jack and Ianto are on the case of the people who have done this.. I want to see Tosh.' Owen looked at her confused, but followed, as Gwen began walking to the Hub.

When they arrived, the two of them couldn't see Tosh straight away. Then Owen noticed she was in the autopsy bay. 'Tosh? What are you doing down there?' he asked as Gwen began running down the stairs, not phased by, in Owen's opinion, Tosh's strange behaviour.

'How's it getting on?' Gwen asked Tosh, looking at the test tubes that Tosh had filled up.

'Well.. I've made _something.. _whether it's an antidote for the poison..' Tosh trailed off, concentrating on what she was doing.

'What are you doing?' Owen asked, getting frustrated, as he had no idea what either of them were talking about.

'Owen, Tosh is making an antidote for the poison, okay?' Gwen then turned to Tosh. 'We're here if you need our help.' Toshiko nodded in response.

It felt like hours Owen and Gwen were sat there, waiting for a result.. They were both sat on the sofa, Gwen's twiddling her fingers, Owen sat with his head in his hands.

'I think I've got it..' Tosh finally said, an hour later.

Gwen stood up suddenly. 'Got what? You've got the antidote?' Gwen asked, hope in her voice.

'Yes', Tosh replied, causing Owen to stand up, too, and he and Gwen walked over to where Tosh stood, triumphant.

'How?' Owen asked, suspiciously.

'I've made it so strong, only one drop is necessary for curing the poisoned. I have a load of it..'

'We can take it to the hospitals; put it in the victim's drips!' Gwen announced, brightly, almost in tears with the thought of Rhys being safe. 'Thank God for Torchwood.'

'Thank God for Tosh', Owen said. 'Right, I suggest we each go to the nearest hospitals and deliver this antidote. I'll talk to Jack on the way. See you all later', Owen told them both, leaving with a large bottle of the antidote. Gwen and Tosh nodded, then left after Owen.

Owen was driving the SUV, the bottle in the seat next to him. He pressed a button on his communication device, and spoke into it. 'Jack, it's me. Tosh has made an antidote for the poison.'

'Owen? Tosh has made an antidote? That's fantastic! Is there enough?' Jack replied, sounding shocked.

'I'm not sure. I think so. We're all delivering some to the hospitals; they should be able to treat everyone there. One drop is strong enough to cure' Owen replied.


	7. Chapter 7

Jack and Ianto returned to the Hub. It had been 15 minutes since he had last spoken to any of the others. The last he'd heard they were dropping off the antidotes at the nearest hospitals.

'All in a day's work', Ianto said as he draped his suit jacket over a chair in the kitchen.

Jack sighed. 'It's not done yet', he told Ianto, who was getting mugs out of the cupboard in order to make them both a coffee. 'You want one, right?' Ianto asked, turning round, noticing the expression on Jack's face and mistaking it for declining the coffee. Jack nodded and sat down.

'They'll be fine, Jack', Ianto comforted him, realising what he was really worrying about.

'I hate that John was right. That he knew about this before I did..' Jack began. 'And what if the others don't make it to the hospitals in time?' 'They will', Ianto told him as he was putting sugars in the coffees.

Meanwhile, Owen was almost above the speed limit, racing against time to reach the hospital before everyone that was poisoned died.

'This is a joke', Owen muttered as he sat, waiting for the lights to change. 'Finally', he said when they finally turned green. He made it to the hospital 5 minutes later, rushing in and stopping at the front desk. 'Hello, I'm from Torchwood. This is the cure for the poisoned patients, one drop should do it', Owen told her, winking and leaving as she nodded in return, looking slightly confused.

Gwen had made it to the hospital already, as she was at the one closest to the Hub. She ran in, panting, almost slipping over and grabbing the desk for support. 'Hello, I'm Gwen Cooper, from Torchwood.. This is the antidote for the poison. Patients need one drop and they'll be cured.'

'Thankyou, Miss Cooper. I'll get this sorted straight away', the secretary replied.

'While I'm here, has there been a Rhys Williams admitted to this hospital in the last few hours?' Gwen asked, a worried feeling in her stomach as she awaited the secretary's reply. The secretary looked through her documents on the computer in front of her and looked up at Gwen a few moments later.

'Yes, a Mr Rhys Williams arrived about half an hour ago. He is in critical condition from the poison and is receiving treatment straight away', the secretary told her. Gwen paused, almost as if time had stopped. It took her a few minutes to come back. The secretary's voice was the first she heard. 'Miss Cooper? Are you okay?'

Gwen shook her head, trying to come out of this frenzy. 'Uhh.. what room is he in?' Gwen finally managed to utter in a quiet voice.

'Second floor, room 10', the secretary replied, picking up the phone to alert staff of the cure. Gwen nodded and tried to find her way to Rhys' room. She was like a deer that had just learned to walk, and was holding onto walls for support. 'Room 10..' she whispered to herself as she reached the second floor. There it was, in big white letters, intimidatingly. Rhys was in there.. Gwen hauled herself at the door, opening it to find Rhys, lying there, tubes all over him.

'Rhys!' she cried, not sure whether her voice even came out.

'You must be Miss Cooper', the Doctor stated, his voice booming. Gwen nodded in response and sat at the chair beside Rhys' bed.

'Is he going to be okay?' she asked him, not necessarily wanting him to answer.

'I'm not sure.. We have the cure. We're just not sure if it's too late or not', the Doctor told her. A tear rolled down Gwen's cheek. 'His heart beat is very low.'


	8. Chapter 8

Gwen was silent, more tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. She squeezed Rhys' hand for a moment, then held it softly in her hands, hoping that he would wake up and laugh, telling her he was fine.

'Is there anything you can do? There's a chance the poison will work, so let's take that chance as soon as possible, yeah?' Gwen said to the doctor, her voice still weak.

'We're just waiting for it to be delivered to this floor, now. It won't be a moment.' Gwen nodded and turned back to Rhys. Gwen waited for the doctor to busy himself on the other side of the room, then pressed the button on her communication device. 'Jack? It's Gwen. Rhys.. he's in hospital. I...' her voice trembled, 'I don't think he'll make it..'

'Gwen? I'm so sorry. I'll be there right away. Have Tosh and Owen delivered the antidote to the other hospitals?' Jack replied, his voice soft.

'I'm not sure.. I haven't spoken to them since we were last in the Hub together.'

'Okay, I'll see you soon. Hang on there, Gwen', Jack told her.

The doctor returned over to Gwen and Rhys a few minutes later with the antidote. Rhys' life support machine began beeping.

'Quick! Can't you do something? Help him, please!' Gwen pleaded, panic on her face.

'He's running out of time.. I'm going to have to inject the cure straight into his heart' the doctor told Gwen quickly. Gwen nodded.

'Please.. Don't let him die.' The doctor injected the antidote into Rhys' heart, but the monitor continued to beep. 'What's going on?' Gwen asked, panicking. 'Help him!' she shouted at the doctor hysterically. Just then Jack, Ianto, Owen and Tosh had all arrived. 'Gwen, are you okay?' Jack asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. 'What's going on?' he asked the doctor.

'You lot shouldn't be in here.. I need focus, you'll have to wait outside', the doctor told them.

Jack nodded, and the four of them left Gwen alone with Rhys and the doctor.

'I hope he'll be okay..' Tosh said, leaning against the wall in the corridor outside. Jack was pacing up and down, Owen also leaning against a wall, and Ianto stood watching Jack absent-mindedly.

'We all do', Ianto told Tosh, smiling comfortingly at her.

'I hope Gwen's going to be okay', Owen said. It felt like they were waiting outside for hours, but 45 minutes went by and Gwen came out of the room, her eyes bloodshot. They all looked up at her, expectantly. Jack's heart dropped as he saw her expression.

'He didn't make it..' Gwen told them all, falling to the floor and curling up into a ball, sobbing uncontrollably. Jack and Owen rushed towards her, Jack crouching down beside her, putting his arm round her. Owen did the same, stroking her head.

'Gwen.. I'm so so sorry', Jack told her, welling up.

'Who.. did.. this to him!' she screeched, gasping alternating with crying.

'We've dealt with them. They're going somewhere where they won't be seeing the light of day any time soon', Jack explained. Gwen broke down again, and Tosh crouched down with her. None of them had any words; they were just there for her. 'Come on Gwen, let's get you back to the Hub', Owen said to her. Gwen didn't move for a while, but eventually they managed to get her into the SUV and back to the Hub.

A few hours later, Gwen was sat at the boardroom table, a blanket wrapped round her shoulders and a cup of Ianto's best cups of coffee in her hands. Toshiko was sat next to her, Jack and Ianto stood against the walls, Owen on her other side with his arm around her. Nobody had noticed that.

'So everyone who had the poison in small doses were cured, however not everyone made it.. Luckily more survived than died' Jack was updating Gwen. Gwen nodded, trying to ignore what had happened today.

The clock had hit 11 o'clock and everyone was thinking about going home. The thought made Gwen's stomach very uneasy, her head hurting.

'Gwen, you can stay with me if you like? As long as you need', Tosh told her, smiling sympathetically. Gwen returned her smile.

'Thanks, Tosh. If it's not too much trouble, of course.' Tosh shook her head.

'I'll just get my jacket', she said as she left the room, leaving Gwen and Owen in there alone.

'How do you feel?' Owen asked her quietly.

'Terrible', she replied. Owen looked at her; she hadn't seen that look before.

'I'm not going to let you go through this alone, Gwen. Whenever you need me, if it's 1 in the morning, or 10 at night, I will be here if you need me', Owen told her, holding her hand.

'Thankyou..'

'I know what it feels like..' Owen told her. 'To loose someone like that.'

The drive home in Tosh's car was silent. The walk from the car was even quieter. When they got into Tosh's apartment, Tosh started making a bed on the couch for Gwen to sleep on. 'I'm sorry it doesn't look that comfy.. You can have my bed if you like?' she told Gwen apologetically.

'No, thanks Tosh, This is lovely', Gwen replied.

'You look like you need some rest. I'll see you tomorrow', Tosh told Gwen, turning the light off as she left. Gwen climbed into bed after undressing and wrapped herself in the blanket. She couldn't get to sleep for a while. Gwen looked up at the clock on the wall. It was 3. She sighed and soon enough she then drifted off into a deep sleep.


End file.
